Kathleen Sebelius Throws Arthur Allen Under The Bus
By Jake Crosby
Arthur Allen: tomato writer and the vaccine industry’s original media go-to guy, has now been thrown under the bus by the very folks he spent years defending – the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Just last month the department expressed skepticism over the validity of a quote he attributed to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, which was included in a February 5, 2010 interview for Reader’s Digest, "H1N1 The Report Card"
More than a year after my article, Did Kathleen Sebelius Pressure Media to Deny Vaccine Safety Voices?, which uncovered HHS Secretary Sebelius’ disturbing quote to Arthur Allen that “We have reached out to media outlets to try to get them to not give the views of these people [vaccine safety advocates] equal weight in their reporting,” Greg Dobbs of HDNet followed up on my initial findings, asking HHS to verify this statement Allen attributed to her. The response, in writing, was a shocker:
“No one here can remember or determine that this quote is factual.”
In other words, Arthur Allen, who had devoted his career to defending the vaccine industry – particularly the mercury-based preservative thimerosal - long before Chris Mooney, Michael Specter or Seth Mnookin entered the controversy - was effectively sacrificed to save the HHS Secretary from well-deserved embarrassment.
Allen even wrote an entire book in the vaccine industry’s defense. And yet, the HHS has now suggested he may have fabricated the quote he attributed to Sebelius. Especially bizarre is that Allen was hardly leading her to the answer she gave when he asked, “What can be done about public mistrust of vaccines?”
This incident also raises questions about how the HHS and perhaps other government agencies will eventually behave towards sympathetic reporters in the future, some of whom have engaged in serious ethical violations, which range from having blatantly lied to committing outright fraud. Brian Deer has committed both. Let’s also not forget Gardiner Harris who violated the ethical guidelines of The New York Times.
Will these journalists also be thrown under the bus along with Arthur Allen? If so, how will they react?
Will they sacrifice their own credibility to support the people they’ve spent years defending? Will they turn against their new betrayers? Or will they say nothing at all? In order to find out how Arthur Allen would respond, I sent him an email asking if the quote he attributed to Sebelius, later questioned by the HHS, was true.
It’s been at least two weeks and he still has not responded.
Jake Crosby has Asperger Syndrome and is a contributing editor to Age of Autism. He is a 2011 graduate of Brandeis University with a BA in both History and Health: Science, Society and Policy. He currently attends The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services where he is studying for an MPH in epidemiology.
Sarah wrote: ".. My hope is the weight of scientific evidence will point to an immune dysfunction in a subset of kids and that evidence will box these people in. Some great research is coming out of UC Davis's MIND Institute and also the work of Dr. T.C. Theoharides from Tufts on mast cells and autism. These are highly regarded mainstream doctors and researchers looking at the problems with immune system function in children with autism. It is they who will show the world what we parents already know "the Emporer has no clothes..."
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You are so right Sarah, but these mainstream doctors and researchers are just the next in a long of good people being discredited.
We are up against some incredibly evil forces, and as I mentioned in my post below, these people literally own the media. Our message will never be heard until something happens to take away that advantage.
Posted by: Barry | September 13, 2011 at 05:30 PM
Well done, Jake. Either Allen faked his quote, the HHS is lying, or both. Keep up the phenomenal work.
Posted by: John Gilmore | September 13, 2011 at 12:47 PM
The Arthur Allen's of the world have likely been well paid for their treachery and will crawl away into oblivion when the truth comes crashing through. My concern is not whether or not they are thrown under the bus, but whether those who have real power and knowledge will ever pay any price.
Posted by: Mfischer | September 13, 2011 at 12:39 PM
My hope is the weight of scientific evidence will point to an immune dysfunction in a subset of kids and that evidence will box these people in. Some great research is coming out of UC Davis's MIND Institute and also the work of Dr. T.C. Theoharides from Tufts on mast cells and autism. These are highly regarded mainstream doctors and researchers looking at the problems with immune system function in children with autism. It is they who will show the world what we parents already know "the Emporer has no clothes"
Posted by: Sarah | September 13, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Kathy Blanko wrote: "... media constantly sensors the truth...especially with vaccines, especially because their conglomerated interests are tied at the hip with pharma..."
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You're on the right track Kathy, but I think it would be more accurate to say that the media is being dangled from strings that are being held by big pharma.
They don't just influence the media... they own it.
Posted by: Barry | September 13, 2011 at 12:09 AM
Does anyone else feel like taking Sebellius out for a glass of 'beer' or two.
Perhaps if she ever visits Australia, I will 'shout' her a 'pint' and then we can discuss the relationship between the gut and the brain!
Elizabeth
Posted by: AussieMum | September 12, 2011 at 11:17 PM
Obama did mention mercury in his speech last week, as well as here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/the-mercury-mischief-as-o_b_271520.html
and here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/06/obama-reverses-bush-effor_n_164682.html
SO I cannot understand why he supports Sebellius. My dream appointment for EPA or HHS would have been RFK Jr.
Posted by: CarolynC Kylesmom | September 12, 2011 at 07:01 PM
"As more research linking autism to immune dysfunction comes out, I expect more people will be thrown under "the save my a**" bus."
The other thing that's finally beginning to happen and that will speed the "throw 'em under the bus" phenomenon that is happening with Arthur Allen is that parents of kids with allergies are finally starting to question vaccines as well. And it's about time. Afterall it's not a stretch to question vaccines as a trigger in messing up children's immune systems. Vaccines are an unnatural assault to the immune system and there are SO MANY given these days compared to 20-30 years go.
Then of course once the parents of allergic kids group goes digging and finds that there are NO studies that have ever been done to see if there is a link between vaccines and allergies, well that's a huge number of pissed off parents who'll be putting the screws to the people like Sebelius.
Posted by: Beth | September 12, 2011 at 05:46 PM
WOW, so journalist believing that the survival instinct of corporations will save them, need to rethink those career plans. They can and will be thrown out like trash by the US gov.
Posted by: zeph | September 12, 2011 at 05:40 PM
Arthur Allen...are you kidding? He likely DID decide to "reword" what the woman said to fit what he deemed appropropriate. He has been known to do that...
Posted by: allenisnosaint | September 12, 2011 at 05:33 PM
Kathleen Sebelius supported Obama early on, he owed her a favor, and now she's HHS Secretary, telling the nation things like
"study after study, scientist after scientist, has determined that there really is no safety risk with thimerosal.There is concern about parents of why autism rates are rising. And, as you know, we've got some special NIH studies, thanks to the president, focused on just what is going on.
But thimerosol has been proven to be safe...there is really a safe factor with using thimerosol. It's an effective preservative and one that we think actually adds to the likelihood that we'll have a safe vaccine for a while to come.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/30/eveningnews/main5199450.shtml
Posted by: No medical training? No problem. Be an HHS Secretary in your spare time! | September 12, 2011 at 03:42 PM
media constantly sensors the truth...especially with vaccines, especially because their conglomerated interests are tied at the hip with pharma, especially because people like Sebilius are part of the CDC's EIS control media patrol. We have to work outside of these paramaters, and stop feeling that these people are ever going to admit they have subliminally, or ommissionally, or on purpose, caused this epidemic. Psuedo concerned people is what I call them. More like, concerned they will be found out...sigh... We have to just refuse ALL vaccines, on a whole, in a great mass, for them to be finally concerned with our position, our lives, and our tradgedies. Until then, I won't hold my breath. Up till now our complicity even on a small scale (such as committee meetings with these people) has resulted in more vaccines in the schedule, and even taking away our rights of dissent (in caifornia, aka, the gardasil vaccines), etc.
Posted by: kathy blanco | September 12, 2011 at 03:17 PM
Has Kathleen Sebelius YET spent one hour... or part of one day... with any Autistic groups or parents... or met an Autistic child in her office ???
Has she found time to meet with a few hundred american drug lords ?
Posted by: cmo | September 12, 2011 at 02:22 PM
neither is she an expert on vaccines, but tell her that.
Posted by: Sarah | September 12, 2011 at 02:09 PM
Why does anyone expect her to know jack about autism? How come Jenny McCarthy can't say ANYthing because she's "not a doctor"? Neither is Sebelius. And to my knowledge, she doesn't have a child with autism, either, which make her an "expert" of NO kind.
Posted by: Zed | September 12, 2011 at 01:52 PM
Sebellius has been a non leader on autism. We're like a thorn in her side. Not happy about the way the whole administration has treated us quite frankly.
Posted by: Sarah | September 12, 2011 at 12:15 PM
It's impossible to believe that nobody can verify whether this was said. Those were very significant words, and there was an outcry about them, and if Kathleen Sebelius didn't say them she would surely have issued a denial.
Thanks, Jake, for telling us about the BS response to this inquiry. What a bunch of baloney.
Posted by: Lilly | September 12, 2011 at 11:12 AM
Health and Human Services has yet to notice the very unhealthy state of America's children. Remember back to 2009 when the autism rate went officially to one in 110?
David Kirby wrote about it for AoA.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/10/kathleen-sibelius-autism-now-hits-1-in-100-children-we-have-no-idea-why.html
Sebelius didn't know of having one percent of children with autism was really anything serious. To her, autism was still a mystery and she didn't yet know if more kids actually had autism. Evidently she hasn't yet figured it out.
Sebelius has never used the word CRISIS when talking about autism. "Urgent public health challenge" is the strongest language she has come up with.
Sebelius was sworn in in 2009 in the midst of the "public health emergency involving swine flu" according to the LA Times. Swine flu was called a global crisis by Sebelius and she was everywhere doing H1N1 vaccine commercials and warning us about the horrors of the coming pandemic, all the while remaining clueless about the very real autism epidemic.
She may not be much of a leader in the battle against autism but she's a great rep for the vaccine industry. And when it comes to public health, that's all that really matters.
Anne Dachel
Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | September 12, 2011 at 11:04 AM
Wouldn't it be interesting if he's got her interview on tape?
Posted by: Cindy | September 12, 2011 at 09:59 AM
Doesn't surpise me. Two words come to mind when I think of Kathleen Sebellius: "strident and arrogant". As more research linking autism to immune dysfunction comes out, I expect more people will be thrown under "the save my a**" bus.
Posted by: Sarah | September 12, 2011 at 09:46 AM
Oh please, Sebelius can certainly remember! She said it, absolutely.
If there was any doubt at all Sebelius would have denied requesting that media outlets censor the vaccine debate.
Clearly she is embarrassed to have made such an outrageous request and to have made it on the record.
Sebelius should be embarrassed. The way forward w/ this debate is via open discussion and emerging research not blanket and fearful calls for state censorship.
Posted by: Katie Wright | September 12, 2011 at 09:25 AM
The word "purge" comes to mind. As the pharma phront disintegrates, those with the power to do so, when challenged, will destroy their former allies before they can squeal. Must be unsettling.
Posted by: Dan E. Burns, Chair | September 12, 2011 at 07:30 AM
I think of Milan Kundera's 'The Book of Laughter and Forgetting'. Did we actually need the Warsaw Pact in the West for us to be able to remember anything? What a pathetic bunch.
Posted by: John Stone | September 12, 2011 at 06:57 AM